For purposes of the present disclosure and appended claims, the terms “compound archery bow” or “compound bow” shall denote an archery bow that uses a levering system, usually comprising one or more cables and pulleys, to bend the limbs as the bow is drawn. Examples of compound bows include both (i) so-called vertical compound bows, wherein a user holds the riser (oriented roughly vertically) with one hand and draws the bow with the other hand, and (ii) crossbows, wherein the riser is mounted (oriented roughly horizontally) on a stock/rail assembly and the user holds and aims the crossbow like a rifle. Examples of compound bows include dual cam bows, binary cam bows (including those that employ a Binary Cam System®), hybrid cam bows, and solo cam bows (also referred to as single cam bows). Such compound archery bows typically include one or more power cables (sometimes referred to as buss cables or anchor cables). Conventionally, each power cable is engaged at a first end (i.e., referred to as its take-up end) to be taken up by a power cable pulley (or other take-up mechanism) of a pulley assembly rotatably mounted on one bow limb, and is connected at its other end to the other bow limb. Tension developed as the bow is drawn and the power cable is taken up causes deformation of the bow limbs and storage of potential energy therein. A portion of that potential energy is transformed into the kinetic energy of the arrow shot by the bow. Some examples of different compound bow types are disclosed in the various patents listed below, all of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. In some examples of compound bows (i.e., all dual cam bows, some solo cam bows, and some hybrid cam bows), the power cable is connected at its second end directly to the other bow limb or to an axle on which an idler wheel or pulley assembly is rotatably mounted on the other bow limb. In such examples the second end of the power cable is neither taken up nor let out when the bow is drawn. In some other examples of compound bows (i.e., all binary cam bows, some solo cam bows, and some hybrid cam bows), the power cable is connected at its second end indirectly to the other bow limb, and is let out by a let-out pulley (or other let-out mechanism) of a pulley assembly rotatably mounted on the other bow limb during at least a portion of drawing of the bow.
Any of those arrangements (direct connection, or indirect connection with let-out), can include a split-buss power cable arrangement, in which a pair of secondary power cables connects the second end of the power cable (i.e., the end not taken up) to the other bow limb. In some examples of a split-buss arrangement, the power cable is bifurcated at its second end to form the two secondary power cables in a split-cable arrangement (e.g., as in FIG. 8A); in some other examples, the second end of the power cable forms one of the secondary power cables, and an additional, discrete cable segment is attached to the power cable, at a point displaced from its end, to form the other secondary power cable (e.g., as in FIG. 8B); in some other examples, the power cable and two separate secondary power cables are each connected to a yoke or coupling member (e.g., as in FIG. 8C); in some examples, the power cable is connected to the yoke or coupling member, and a single cable segment is looped around the yoke or coupling member to form both of the two secondary power cables (e.g., as in FIG. 8D). Any of those split-buss cable arrangements can include attachment of the secondary power cables on opposite sides of a pulley assembly between a draw cable pulley and the limb, or on opposite sides of both the limb and the draw cable pulley. If secured between the draw cable pulley and the limb, the spacing provided by a yoke or coupling member can enable rotation of the pulley member without interference from the secondary power cables. If no yoke or coupling member is employed, the secondary power cables are often secured on opposite sides of the limb to enable rotation of the pulley assembly without interference from the secondary power cables, but in some instances they can be secured between the draw cable pulley and the limb. Examples of different split-buss arrangements of various compound bows are disclosed in some of the patents listed below, all of which are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein.
The patents referred to above are that are incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein are:                U.S. Pat. No. 3,990,425 entitled “Compound bow” issued Nov. 9, 1976 to Ketchum;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,521 entitled “Compound bow” issued Nov. 17, 1981 to Schmitt;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,440,142 entitled “Compound bow cable tension adjuster” issued Apr. 3, 1984 to Simonds;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,546,754 entitled “Yoke anchor for a compound bow” issued Oct. 15, 1985 to Smith;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,686,955 entitled “Compound archery bows” issued Aug. 18, 1987 to Larson;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,733,648 entitled “Compound bow cable anchor” issued Mar. 29, 1988 to Martin;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,781,167 entitled “Compound bow with adjustable tension cable anchor” issued Nov. 1, 1988 to Martin;        U.S. Pat. No. 4,909,231 entitled “Dual anchor cable separator for compound bows” issued Mar. 20, 1990 to Larson;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,368,006 entitled “Dual-feed single-cam compound bow” issued Nov. 29, 1994 to McPherson;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,777 entitled “Compound bow and yoke adjuster” issued Jan. 17, 1995 to Mitchell et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,655 entitled “Compound bow and cable mounting bracket” issued Feb. 21, 1995 to Mitchell et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,623,915 entitled “Archery bowstring system” issued Apr. 29, 1997 to Kudlacek;        U.S. Pat. No. 5,890,480 entitled “Dual-feed single-cam compound bow” issued Apr. 6, 1999 to McPherson;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,582 entitled “Archery bow with bow string coplanar with the longitudinal axis of the bow handle” issued May 29, 2001 to McPherson;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,474,324 entitled “Archery bows, archery bow cam assemblies, and archery bow anchors” issued Nov. 5, 2002 to Despart et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,096 entitled “Split-buss-cable single-cam compound archery bow” issued Dec. 9, 2003 to Nealy et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,792,930 entitled “Single-cam split-harness compound bow” issued Sep. 21, 2004 to Kronengold et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,871,643 entitled “Eccentric elements for a compound archery bow” issued Mar. 29, 2005 to Cooper et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 6,990,970 entitled “Compound archery bow” issued Jan. 31, 2006 to Darlington;        U.S. Pat. No. 7,305,979 entitled “Dual-cam archery bow with simultaneous power cable take-up and let-out” issued Dec. 11, 2007 to Yehle;        U.S. Pat. No. 7,441,555 entitled “Synchronized compound archery bow” issued Oct. 28, 2008 to Larson;        U.S. Pat. No. 7,770,568 entitled “Dual-cam archery bow with simultaneous power cable take-up and let-out” issued Aug. 10, 2010 to Yehle;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,082,910 entitled “Pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued Dec. 27, 2011 to Yehle;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,037,876 entitled “Pulley-and-cable power cable tensioning mechanism for a compound archery bow” issued Oct. 18, 2011 to Yehle;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,181,638 entitled “Eccentric power cable let-out mechanism for a compound archery bow” issued May 22, 2012 to Yehle;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,469,013 entitled “Cable take-up or let-out mechanism for a compound archery bow” issued Jun. 25, 2013 to Obteshka et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 8,739,769 entitled “Cable take-up or let-out mechanism for a compound archery bow” issued Jun. 3, 2014 to Obteshka et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 9,347,730 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued May 24, 2016 to Obteshka;        U.S. Pat. No. 9,417,028 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued Aug. 16, 2016 to Hyde et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 9,441,907 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued Sep. 13, 2016 to Obteshka;        U.S. Pat. No. 9,506,714 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued Nov. 29, 2016 to Eacker et al;        U.S. Pat. No. 9,739,562 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” issued Aug. 22, 2017 to Obteshka; and        U.S. non-provisional application Ser. No. 15/940,946 entitled “Adjustable pulley assembly for a compound archery bow” filed Mar. 29, 2018 in the names of Rinker et al.        